The Colorado General Assembly’s 2022 legislative session was often defined by the personalities leading the debate on some of the top issues facing the state.

Here are some of the memorable quotes from the session.

“We must double down on our promise to help every business and family succeed. That means taking less of your hard-earned money in fees and taxes, and putting more in your pockets and paychecks.”

-Gov. Jared Polis laying out his priorities during his State of the State address early in the 2022 session. Polis, who is in the final year of his term and is seeking reelection with a disciplined affordability message, pledged to cut taxes, reduce or waive fees, and eliminate government-imposed financial barriers to starting a business.

“The Democrats are working very quickly to delay implementation of lots of new fees that they created just last year. I hope that voters pay attention to that”

–Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Douglas County in response to Polis’ State of the State messaging centering on affordability. Republicans charged the root of Colorado’s affordability crisis can be traced back to policies the governor and his allies in the legislature have adopted in the last few years.

“We want to stop crime before it happens. We want to stop people, especially young people, from entering the system in the first place, and to provide those who do with the tools they need to turn their lives around.”

-House Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver, in his opening day address focusing on public safety, quality education and economic relief for Colorado’s nearly six million residents. Garnett would go on to sponsor a bill to address the growing fentanyl crisis, legislation critics charge would lead to more Coloradans entering the criminal justice system.

“Even while making claims to be getting tough on crime, they have passed, and the governor has signed, legislation making Colorado less safe. It is no wonder why criminals are able to get away with so much today.”

-House Minority Leader Hugh McKean in his opening day address, which shared the same goals as Garnett’s but sharply differed in the diagnosis of the challenges and the solutions they want the state to adopt. Though he highlighted previous legislation that shortened sentencing for the possession of 4 grams of fentanyl or less to a misdemeanor, something Garnett’s bill sough to address, McKean ultimately voted against the measure.

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“Heaven created a tremendous ally who made the world a better place.”

“He was the best person in this building. What Pat gave this building was humor, and a smile, and the best energy … He was always there to greet you with solutions and no ego.”

-Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, followed by Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, speaking during a tribute to Pat Teegarden, legislative liaison for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, who died Feb. 5 after a brief illness.

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” While my time in the Senate is coming to a close, I am proud of all that we’ve accomplished together to move Colorado forward, and I am confident that whomever is selected to fill these vacancies will serve with the integrity and tenacity that Coloradans deserve.” 

-Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, announcing he intends to resign his post to take a job with the Biden administration’s Department of Defense. 

“Leadership isn’t about a title, prestige or power. It’s about knowing what your role is and when it’s the right time to step into that role.”

-Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, pledging to continue the work started by Garcia on modernizing the Senate shortly after being chosen by his colleagues to succeed Garcia as the Senate’s leader.

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“This is about our right to make private medical decisions. This is ensuring access and affirms that people have the right to control their own bodies.”

-Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Greenwood Village, speaking on House Bill 1279, her legislation seeking to enshrine the unequivocal right to an abortion in state law as the measure cleared the House Health & Insurance Committee on a party-line vote.

“I’m confident that [the majority] will not let this debate go on for 50 days or even for two. For those who want us to go on for 50 days, it’s not a matter of willingness … We can’t stop this process.”

-Hobert explaining that though people have pleaded with him to shut down the legislative process on HB 1279, the Colorado Constitution and legislative rules don’t offer him an outlet similar to the U.S. Senate’s filibuster.

“This bill codifies a person’s right to make reproductive health care decisions free from government interference.” 

-Polis as he signed HB 1279 into law.

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“Mesa County woke us up to potential vulnerabilities.”

-Fenberg at a news conference introducing a legislation that seeks to clamp down on the kind of alleged “insider” election security breaches that led to the grand jury indictment Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters.

“SB22-153 is clearly a kneejerk response to our elections investigations in Mesa County and to the multiple damning reports that investigation has produced.”

-Peters during a Capitol news conference after the introduction on SB 153, citing two reports that were debunked by election officials.

“Their behavior has tarnished public confidence in our elections and fueled false narratives about how elections function. We must now fortify our elections against those with inside access that aim to do harm.” 

-Secretary of State Jena Griswold repeating her charge that election officials in Colorado and in other states have compromised voting equipment and breached election security rules in their efforts to prove unfounded election claims while testifying on SB 153 before House State, Civic, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. 

“She did her job to save this country. For the first time in our country, we know what’s inside these Dominion machines that they’ve been hiding from us.”

-MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell at a Capitol rally on allegations Peters and others tampered with secure voting equipment and software as part of a scheme to uncover evidence of election fraud. Peters was indicted on 11 felony and misdemeanor charges related to allegations she and others tampered with secure voting equipment and software as part of a scheme to uncover evidence of election fraud. Peters has maintained she did nothing illegal and rejected her party’s entreaty for her to suspend her campaign for the Colorado Secretary of State’s office after the indictment. Peters called the indictments part of a politically motivated campaign by officials from both parties to muzzle supporters of former President Donald Trump.

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“I’m a sponsor of this bill because any action is better than no action; and while I’ll be in support of any legislation that tightens the penalties on fentanyl possession, this legislation scratches the surface of what actually needs to be done to prevent our kids from dying from overdoses at their desks.”

-Rep. Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, in a Colorado Politics op-ed explaining why he was joining Garnett in co-sponsoring the fentanyl bill. Lynch would ultimately ask to have his name removed from the bill and vote against the measure

“He wasn’t just a number and a statistic. He was someone with meaning.”

-Shaelynn Davidson, 17, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on her brother, Keith, who died after overdosing on fentanyl April 2, 2021.

“There is no safe amount of fentanyl to possess.”

-Greg Sader, the deputy chief of the Commerce City Police Department, after recounting to the Senate Judiciary Committee what many suspected was an accidental overdose deaths of five people who thought they were ingesting cocaine. Among other things, Sader and other law enforcement officials were seeking a felony charge for any amount of fentanyl possession.

” History has taught us through the failed drug war, that the predominant – the dominant – criminal justice response to these public health crises has not lifted us out of the crisis.”

–Justin Cooper, the deputy director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, to a crowd who had gathered at the west steps of the Capitol to advocate for a treatment-centered approach to the state’s fentanyl crisis.

“With how deadly fentanyl is, it cannot just be one side or the other … We’re trying to get a comprehensive bill that will save lives.”

-Garnett, urging his colleagues’ support of the fentanyl bill ahead of its passage in the House. The speaker noted the bill wasn’t perfect but it confronted fentanyl from both sides of the issue: possession and treatment.

“This is the best we got.”

-Holbert calling for support from his Senate Republican colleagues for the compromise on the fentanyl bill. Ten of the 15 Senate Republicans voted against the compromise crafted by the conference committee before the bill cleared the Senate on a 27-8 vote with seven Republicans and Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, voting against.

“The bill that the Colorado legislature passed is wholly inadequate to address this critical problem that is resulting in the death of far too many Coloradans. “

-Colorado Spring Mayor John Suthers, a Republican, calling on Polis to veto the legislature’s fentanyl bill.

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